Media Home Entertainment
Logo descriptions by Matt Williams, Nicholas Aczel, and Cameron McCaffrey Logo captures by Eric S., snelfu, and V of Doom Video captures courtesy of AussieRoadshow, rvideoprod, DudeThatLogo, and Eric S. Background: Established in 1978 by filmmaker Charles Band, Media Home Entertainment, Inc. was an independent video distributor. In 1984, the company was purchased by Heron Communications Inc., a subsidiary of Gerald Ronson's Heron International. in 1989, that came along with Vidmark Entertainment. Finally, in 1993, the company ceased operations and its last titles went through Fox Video (and before that, CBS/Fox Video) on VHS (while Image Entertainment continued to distribute their output on Laserdiscs). During this time, Media sold its properties to Video Treasures. 1st Logo (1978-1981) Nicknames: "MEDA in Space", "Cheesy MEDA", "Early Cheesy Media" Logo: On a twinkling space background, the navy blue stylized word "MEDA" lights up ala a shocking pink outline. The logo sparkles three times in sync with the fanfare. Then, a four-pointed star appears below the logo and flies across the screen from left to right, wiping in the words "Media Home Entertainment Inc." in similar font and coloring. The logo sparkles some more and briefly glows pink. Variant:On B/W movies, the logo is shown in black and white. Trivia: "MEDA" is not a misspelling. Meda was the name of founder Charles Band's then-wife, and it also serves as a play on words, since "MEDA" can also be phonetically interpreted as "ME-D-A" (i.e., "Media"). FX/SFX: The lighting/glittering effects, the star writing. Music/Sounds: A dramatic orchestral fanfare. On some releases, it sounds rather distorted. Availability: Extremely rare, apart from the occasional old prints circulating in used video stores. This was used on the very first Media Home Entertainment tapes, including Animal Farm, Warp Speed, Night of the Living Dead, and Halloween, but quickly replaced with the 2nd logo beginning in 1981. Editor's Note: The dramatic fanfare and bad animation may be unsettling and even scary to younger kids, but this is a favorite of many. 2nd Logo (1981-1988; 1989) Nicknames: "The Space Logo", "Cheesy Media", "Cheesy Lasers" Logo: We begin with a space background, followed by an animated cluster of yellow laser beams. While this is happening, 2 light blue outlines of the word "MEDIA" begin to move towards each other from opposite sides of the screen (one on top and one on bottom), in a very odd futuristic font, which is styled so that it looks somewhat like this... _MEDIA_ ...with the first line connecting to the "M", and the second connecting to the "A". The two words continue their move towards each other, and when they meet, a stream of orange laser beams pass through the outline(s) which rotate backwards, so that we see a little of the logo's bottom. Then a stream of pink laser beams cause the outline(s) to flash, resulting into the complete logo which is a silver chrome with a light blue glow. The bottom text "MEDIA HOME ENTERTAINMENT, INC." (in black but also glowing light blue) zooms in from the center of the screen. Bylines: In 1984, when Heron Communications bought Media, these would appear, inside a blue rectangle: 1984-1986: "A HERON COMMUNICATIONS CO." 1986-1988: "A HERON COMMUNICATIONS INC. CO." Variants: A B&W variant has been spotted. There is a still variant. On VCL releases distributed by the company, the stacked yellow words "EXCLUSIVELY DISTRIBUTED BY" fly down and reside at the center on the same space background, just before this logo begins. FX/SFX: The lasers, outlines, and space background (which actually looks quite realistic for its time). Music/Sounds: The same fanfare from above, but with no distortion, like the last logo. Sometimes, it's silent. Availability: Common. Tapes that have used this logo include Night of the Living Dead, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part II, the first three Nightmare on Elm Street films, Day of the Dead, and Halloween. Outside of the United States and Canada, the logo can be found (PAL-tweaked) on VPD releases in the United Kingdom and Video Classics releases in Australia. The last video to use this logo was The Hidden, although it did make one appearance on the original VHS of Troma's War. On the Full Moon/Cult Video VHS release of Laserblast from the late 1990s, this makes a surprise appearance along with the original FBI Warning screen as well, with the Samuel Goldwyn logo following the MHE logo. Surprisingly, this logo also appeared on A Family Circus Easter when it aired on Disney Channel in the United States on Easter Sunday of 1999. Can be seen on The Issue of Warner Home Video Releases of The Warner Bros. release of The Outsiders (1980) and The NeverEnding Story (1984). Can be seen on Warner Bros. Release of Wavelength (1983). Can be seen on The Secret of NIMH (1982). Editor's Note: The lasers and flash may startle some, but this is tame, and at least another favorite of many. 3rd Logo (1988-1993) Nicknames: "CGI Bars", "Media Bars" Logo: On a black background, several sets of bar segments move up from the bottom of the screen at an angle. As we rotate towards the front, we see that the bars are forming the Media logo, similar to the one in the previous logo. After the logo is fully formed, the chrome fades in. The end result is exactly like the print logo used since 1981. Bylines: 1988-1990: "DISTRIBUTED BY MEDIA HOME ENTERTAINMENT INC. A Heron Communications, Inc. Company" 1990-1991: "DISTRIBUTED BY MEDIA HOME ENTERTAINMENT INC." 1991-1992/1993: "A Heron Communications, Inc. Company" (with "DISTRIBUTED BY MEDIA HOME ENTERTAINMENT INC." blacked out) FX/SFX: The CGI forming of the word "MEDIA". Music/Sounds: A low-key synth theme with some "ticking" sounds near the end. It's slightly shortened on a few releases, like on some of the NFL Films video releases, where the music ends during the ticking sounds. Music/Sounds/Voice-over Variants: A few early 1988 releases have the same music from above. Due to declining business, the company's very last VHS releases went through (CBS) Fox Video and eventually Fox Video. The above logo would play as normal, but there would be an announcer saying "(Available on video) From Media Home Entertainment." When the music ended, the announcer said, "Distributed by (CBS) Fox Video". When the announcer got to the (CBS) Fox Video part of that, the 1st Fox Video logo (or the 3rd CBS/FOX Video logo) played. Although on the 1991 release of Night of the Kickfighters and Scanners II: The New Order, the 1992 release of The Land Before Time and the 1993 release of Rock-A-Doodle, there was no announcer spiel. Just the full Media logo with the 1st Fox Video logo after it with "DISTRIBUTED BY" in yellow above it. Availability: Seen on all Media tapes from the era. Some of which include Payoff, Down Twisted, Beverly Hills Brats, High Spirits, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, and the uncut version of A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, Teen Witch, Ambition, Scanners II: The New Order, Speed Zone, Full Moon in Blue Water, Haunted Summer, Rabid Grannies, Ministry of Vengeance, Think Big!, Ferocious Female Freedom Fighters, American Boyfriends, Class of Nuke 'em High Part 2: Subhumanoid Meltdown, The Invisible Kid, Two Evil Eyes, World Gone Wild, Alien from L.A., I Come in Peace, Wild at Heart, The Applegates, The Pope Must Diet, Closet Land, Prospero's Books, Black Rainbow, Scorchers, Taking the Heat, Scam, I, Madman, Lurkers, Nails, Dead Ringers, Sonny Boy, Spontaneous Combustion, Primary Motive, Deadlock, and Keeper of the City, among others. Also appeared on some early '90s Video Treasures reprints after said logo appeared before the Media logo, examples are The Check Is In The Mail..., I Come in Peace and Death Wish 4: The Crackdown, among others; Some of these same latter-day releases were also distributed in Canada by HGV Video Productions, even using the same U.S. packaging. Can be seen on the Rhymesayers Pictures 1992 film Release called "Rock-a-Doodle". Can be seen on the 20th Century Fox 1988 film Release called "The Land Before Time". Can be seen on the Manson International 1991 film Release called "Night of the Kickfighters". Can be seen on the 1989 Vidmark Entertainment VHS Release of The Fly (1986) and the 1990 Vidmark Entertainment VHS Release of Predator (1987). Avaliability Variant: It has been Merged in 1989 with Vidmark Entertainment to exist why is 20th Century Fox in The Fly (1986) and Predator (1987). Editor's Note: TBA Category:Logos Category:Old Logos Category:Real Logos Category:Dream Logos Category:Production Logos Category:1970s production logos Category:1980s production logos Category:1990s production logos Category:Watercooler Category:Defunct Category:Defunct Watercooler Logos Category:Home Video production companies Category:Scary Logos Category:Nightmare Logos